Scott Boden, MD, is chair of the Department of Orthopaedics at Emory University School of Medicine and director of the Emory Orthopaedics & Spine Center, both based in Atlanta. Here he shares his thoughts on the future of outpatient orthopedics.
Outpatient Spine
Southlake-based Spine Team Texas plans to open an ASC after relocating one of its clinics, the practice announced in mid-January.
Two surgeons have joined the Rothman Orthopaedics New York staff.
A Novant Health brain and spine surgery clinic has relocated to a former Veterans Administration medical clinic in Winston-Salem, N.C., according to the Winston-Salem Journal.
Certain spine procedures cost significantly less when performed at ASCs instead of hospital outpatient departments, according to Medicare's Procedure Price Lookup tool.
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With an efficient surgical team and careful patient selection criteria, single and multilevel cervical artificial disc replacement procedures are safe to perform in ASCs, according to a study authored by three renowned spine surgeons.
Three spine-focused ASCs opened in October and November:
Orthopedics and spine remain lucrative specialties for ASCs.
Kern Singh, MD, and his team completed the first minimally invasive spine surgeries at the new Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush ASC in Oak Brook, Ill., Nov. 7.
Hawthorne (Calif.) Surgery Center is preparing to take on its first spine cases, according to MedEx, a medical courier services company.